Opposition slams setup of pan-Arab human rights court in Bahrain

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Bahraini riot policemen fire tear gas to disperse protesters during clashes with riot police following an anti-regime demonstration on 4 September 2013 in the village of North Sehla, west of Manama. (Photo: AFP - Mohammed al-Shaikh)

Published Thursday, September 5, 2013

Bahrain's main opposition group has criticized an Arab League decision to set up a pan-Arab human rights court in Manama, saying the Gulf Arab state was the "black hole of human rights."

US-allied Bahrain's human rights record has come under scrutiny over its handling of unrest since anti-government protests broke out in early 2011.

Bahraini officials welcomed the Arab ministerial council's decision in Cairo on Sunday as a recognition of its eligibility to host such an important institution. Bahrain strongly rejects charges it violates human rights and says Manama was a signatory to most international covenants on human rights.

The kingdom, ruled by the al-Khalifa family and base for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, was behind a proposal to create the Arab Human Rights Court.

No details have been issued about the mandate and powers of the court and how judges would be appointed, but the Bahraini foreign ministry said last year that experts from the Arab League would write its charter.

Bahrain's Islamic al-Wefaq movement said Manama's hosting of the court casts doubt on the credibility of the tribunal.

"Al-Wefaq revealed that there are more than 55 types of human rights violations that have been perpetrated by the regime in Bahrain against citizens, including natural and fundamental human rights," the group said on its website www.alwefaq.net.

"This entrenches the idea of Bahrain being the human rights black hole," it said.

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) official also criticized the decision to place the court in Bahrain.

"The establishment of a glitzy new court won't disguise the fact that Bahrain has a dismal and worsening record in that regard," Nicholas McGeehan, Gulf researcher with Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

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